Smooth Radio (2010)
| Broadcast area |
United Kingdom: National (DAB); North West, London, West Midlands, North East, Scotland & East Midlands (FM & DAB) |
|---|---|
| Slogan | "Love Life. Love Music" (2010–2013) "This is Smooth" (2013–2014) |
| Frequency |
FM 100.4 MHz (North West), 101.4 MHz (Derby), 102.2 MHz (London), 105.7 MHz (West Midlands), 97.5 MHz (North East), 105.2 MHz (Glasgow), 106.6 MHz (East Midlands) DAB – 11D (England & Wales) – 12A (Scotland) – 12A (West Midlands) – 12C (North West) – 12C (North East) – 12C (Nottinghamshire) Sky: 0128 Virgin Media: 916 Freeview: 718 Freesat: 732 |
| First air date | As Jazz FM 4 March 1990 As Smooth Radio 4 October 2010 |
| Format | Adult contemporary |
| Owner | Global Radio |
| Sister stations |
Real Radio Real Radio XS |
| Website | www |
From 2010 to 2014, Smooth Radio was an independent, commercial, national radio station in the United Kingdom. Owned by Real and Smooth—a company formerly known as GMG Radio—the station was aimed at the over-40 demographic, and competed for its audience with BBC Radio 2. It was broadcast on the DAB Digital Radio Digital 1 national multiplex, Sky, Freesat, Freeview, Virgin Media, online and on regional FM and DAB frequencies in the North West, London, North East, West Midlands, Scotland and East Midlands. Nationally the station attracted a weekly average audience of 3 million.
The station opened in 1990 as 102.2 Jazz FM in London, and a second Jazz FM branded station was launched four years later in Manchester. The Manchester station became Smooth FM 100.4 in 2004, and was the first in the network of independent local radio stations to use the Smooth brand. The London station followed suit a year later. The network's parent company, GMG Radio – a subsidiary of the Guardian Media Group – acquired the Saga Radio Group in the mid-2000s, and all Saga stations were given the Smooth name. After the publication of John Myers' recommendations of a regulatory overhaul in commercial radio, and the passing of the Digital Economy Act 2010 allowing stations to co-locate or discontinue local shows and broadcasts, Smooth Radio merged its five English stations into a single, quasi-national station in October 2010; local news feeds were produced at GMG Radio's headquarters in Salford Quays. 105.2 Smooth Radio in Scotland produced its own breakfast and drivetime shows, but carried networked programming at other times. As part of their licence agreement, the London and Manchester stations were required to continue their commitment to jazz music after dropping the Jazz FM name, and the UK's broadcasting industry regulator Office of Communications (Ofcom) stipulated they must broadcast 45 hours of jazz programming per week, but this requirement was ended shortly before the merger took place.
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